Column 110 What a way to celebrate! Mariah Osypchuck’s Shimmering Smiles Dental business at Bryne Dr and Mills St is celebrating its second year of business. She wanted to have a party to celebrate. She also wanted to benefit a charity and raise consciousness at the same time. And, if she could involve the…
Column 109 When the City of Barrie and the Barrie Community Foundation team up next Tuesday, it’ll be to present the first gala to award two women receiving the city’s highest honour: the Order of the Spirit Catcher. The Southshore Community Centre will be abuzz November 19 while supporters and representatives of the Barrie…
Column 108 I just got back from visiting the Off the Rack; Barrie Free Clothing store at the corner of Toronto and Dunlop streets behind Meineke Motors. What a cornucopia of goodness! Every month literally hundreds of people shop in this store, helping themselves to an item or two from the ‘free room’, maybe…
Bailey Thompson looks at life through a different set of lenses. Which is terrific for the rest of us. She’s about to publish her first book, Yellow Socks and Blood Spots, about a pregnant, unpartnered teenage girl who has a big decision to make. It will be published under a pseudonym (Jade Cumberland) because her…
So, you get a call for a quote from a company you know nothing about. Nice opportunity, but you have lots of questions before you can come up with a financial figure. Trouble is, the company contact just wants a figure s/he can plug into a budget. Give the quote, get the job Suppose I…
Column 107 Last column I was writing about Small Business Connect, a grassroots group for small business owners. Well, that’s where I was last week when someone said there were 80 shopping days left til Christmas! Who thinks about this stuff? In September? You could feel the collective stress flitter across the room. After…
That’s because of how it sounds. Business plan. Business plan. Drudge. Drudge. Market segmentation. Financial forecasting. Revenue streams. Potential competitive challenge. Is it any wonder? Most entrepreneurs, actually, don’t write a business plan before they start out. Often, they write the plan at the request of a bank when they go for additional financing. Or,…
Some of us are raised to never make a mistake. Performance is everything and that performance is measured by a high school overall grade. In face, parents often raise their kids with the philosophy that to make a mistake is to be a mistake. People who start their own businesses, people who successfully run those…
This is the story of Charles Plumb. You can google Charles Plumb and download videos and lots of information. But, here’s the short version: Fighter pilot during the Vietnam war in the 60s. Flew 32 missions. Shot down. Captured. Eleven years in a Prisoner of War camp. Escaped. Made his way back to the United…
So often in business we think our competition is the business just like ours. And we’re going to do it cheaper and better and that’s how we’ll take business away from our ‘competition.’ Those kinds of competitors can actually be strategic alliances for us. When we look at our customers choosing to spend money with…